Aldwych Theatre

What a fantastic way of starting 2016! ‘Beautiful’ was a really beautiful musical. The Aldwych Theatre is a nice theatre in the West End. That day I was sitting in the Upper Circle, so I couldn’t see the whole building, but what I saw was fine. Helpful staff (even the 1^st of January, where we were all hungover) and good view from the first row of the Upper.

There’s a bit of a rustic charm about this theatre. We came here to see Beautiful over the holidays (the Carole King musical!) and the show was really wonderful! We were in the balcony, and omg there were a lot of stairs to get up there! I feel like there should be a warning about that! Particularly as we had to go down from the first floor bar to then go all the way up to the top. Once we got to the balcony and got our seats, I was totally jazzed — despite being high up, the stepped seating meant we could see everything perfectly! I was glad there wasn’t someone in front of me, as the steepness of the seats means I may have booted them in the head accidentally if there were…
The drinks are, of course, fairly expensive and not super fancy, but they did transfer our interval order to the balcony bar which was really nice.
The show was wonderful, and super fun, and I had a great time at the theatre! It’s not as fancy as some of the others in the area, but it has its own charms.

Lovely theatre! Really nice bar on the first floor. I saw Dance ‘Till Dawn which was amazing — it wasn’t what I expected, but pleasantly surprised. There was comedy, singing (specular singing at that!), great acting and of course dancing. Highly recommend seeing this before it goes. Absolutely brilliant!

Wonderful staff, stage, and ambiance.
But two big problems:
1. Seat space is terrible. Airplanes have twice as much leg room.
2. Bathrooms resemble cattle cars, its better to leave the theater and find another business close by with restrooms.

Das Aldwych ist ein nettes eher kleineres typisch viktorianisches Theater. Mit meinem eher langen Fahrgestell habe ich gut in den Sitz gepasst und die zweieinhalb Stunden von Andrew Lloyd Webbers Musical «Stephen Ward» vergingen im Fluge.
Die Hintergründe zur hochinteressanten Profumo Affäre und Stephen Ward kann man schnell ergoogeln.
Als großer Lloyd Webber Fan erwarte ich ja bei seinen Shows immer so einen Knaller mit Wow-​Effekt, einen «Theatermoment» wie den Kronleuchter bei POTO, die Villa bei Sunset Boulevard oder das Skurillitätenkabinett bei Love Never Dies
Um es kurz zu machen: so einen Knaller gibt es nicht, obwohl es eine Szene gibt, die mehr als spritzig ist. Mehr wird aber diesbezüglich nicht verraten.
Die Musik ist voll von schönen, sehr pfiffigen und vielseitigen Melodien, die im Ohr bleiben. Meine Favourites: «You never had it so good…», «Give us something Juicy» und «Manipulation». Ich meine hier und da gibt es mal eine kurze Phrase, die an «The Woman in White» erinnert.
Irgendwie ist es der vielseitigste und gut gelaunteste Score seit Jahren von Lloyd Webber. Richtig super Musik!
Das Bühnenbild besteht im wesentlichen aus runden konzentrisch angeordneten Vorhängen, auf die projiziert wird und die wirklich mit einfachsten Mitteln sehr eindrucksvolle Bilder schaffen. Wahrscheinlich sollen die sich ständig öffnenden und drehenden Vorhänge eine Drehtür symbolisieren, durch die die Günstlinge und Gefährten Stephen Wards in dessen Leben treten.
Einige Szenen bestehen nur aus bestimmten Stühlen und der Projektion von verschiedenen Lampen und Leuchtern in den oberen Bühnenbereich. So sollen zwei feudale Sessel und ein projizierter Kronleuchter die Lobby des Dorchester darstellen, was wirkungsvoll gelingt.
Die Hauptdarsteller der drei Hauptrollen beherrschen ihr Handwerk sensationell.
Allen voran Alexander Hanson in der Titelrolle. Im ersten Akt ist er ständig auf der Bühne und hat eine unglaubliche Präsenz.
Auffällig im positiven Sinne ist auch das Lichtdesign.
Ach mir hat’s richtig gut gefallen. Es wird sicherlich kein Blockbuster aber es hat auf jeden Fall eine lange erfolgreiche Laufzeit verdient!

We weren’t seated in the best area of the theatre but nevertheless, had a great time and seats were comfortable. This is a nice & decent old theatre with friendly staff and great atmospehere. Most of the play/​musicals there have been a great entertainment overall.

I saw Dirty Dancing here in the Stalls and I thought this theatre was lovely. It’s beautiful inside and a great location. There is a Snack bar right next door that has the most amazing Jacket Potatoes and Melts. Stop by! I can’t say much for the balcony seats or the dress circle but the stalls were great. The view was great and the seats comfy. I would definitely see another show here agian.

Seriously?! You’re seriously two staring an amazingly old and beautiful theatre because you went to see Dirty Dancing and it was too much like the film? Oh my god — shame on you!
I saw Cool Hand Luke here. It was cheesy and surprisingly good but the theatre itself was amazing. It’s proper old school with a great stage and attentive staff. Tickets start from £10 which is an absolute steal. It’s also warm. I know this seems like a weird thing to note, but the amount of times I’ve sat in a drafty old theatre and been freezing is far to often.
I’d really recommend seeing something here. It’s great for a night out and in a wonderful location. Ignore these bozos.

I’m going to give this place three stars because the theater is nice enough. I don’t like how they stuff all the people in the stalls area in the bar before they actually open the theater doors. They shouldn’t let people in if they’re just going to stuff us in a small bar.
Anyway, in this theater, even the front row has good views since the seats don’t actually sit lower than the stage. Also, this theater is good for the intimate shows. If this review were for the show (Dirty Dancing), I’d give it 2 stars but I’ll try not to blame the theater for the not-​so-​good show currently playing.
Anyway, the theater is nice enough and the staff is pretty helpful. The restrooms, on the other hand, are small and really old and musty.
Ok, I can’t resist… this doesn’t have anything to do with my rating for the theater, but just in case you’re here to see reviews for Dirty Dancing — I’d skip it. I love Dirty Dancing but this show wouldn’t make any sense to anyone who doesn’t know the movie very well. The choreography is excellent so if you like dancing, you won’t get disappointed. The acting wasn’t bad, but the person who played Baby was overacting. The singing wasn’t bad… but then again, it also wasn’t good.

Ok this is going to sound weird but I am giving this place two stars because of how bad it was not how good. I went to see Dirty Dancing, and it was one more time a confirmation why you should never ever try to touch the classic. They pretty much recited the whole movie, even every character looked like the one in the movie, so that of course makes you want to compare, but the problem was there was no chemistry!
The movie was so good becuase everything seemed natural, the musical? Well they tried to copy every move so it seemed very akward and forced.
Funny thing those british actors actually were trying to speak american english. I actually was laughing the whole time, just because I couldn’t believe how bad it was, and how could someone even make that show!
Ok three things that were worth it: the singers who sang the songs were amazing, there was one! joke in the beginning that was clever (and didn’t come from a movie), and that random couple in front of our row that seemed to be enjoying every minute of it.
I paid 15 pounds for it and i would not pay a penny more, we were sitting in the last row, and a theatre should be always judged how well they think about everyone, well they didn’t. The last row wasn’t even sloped enough.

We went to see Dirty Dancing this weekend at the Aldwych Theatre. It is a lovely theatre, quite cosy but beautifully ornate and well situated in the West end.
We had the cheap seats at the very top back of the Theatre, and though we were high up we could still see the play. We bought drinks before the performance to take in with us which was great, and then again in the intermission.
A lovely theatre and I would recommend it to anyone.

this is an amazing thetare it was small but very welcoming with an oldy worldy feeling that makes you feel like you have gone back in time. it feels very grand when you looki around. The drinks are quite expensive but worth buying as you are allowed to take them into the theatre with you to watch the show. the staff are very pleasent!

This is a good small theatre, that has all the top shows. It has good effects on the stage that makes it seem more real.
It is cheaper if you go during tne week and not weekends.

This was my first London show when I booked tickets for Dirty Dancing to tak my wife on a day away from the kids as we took full advantage of the in-​laws recent move to the capital. At the time of booking the only tickets left were on the last row at the very back of the theatre. However I shouldn’t have been concerned because the view was amazing. Although we couldn’t make out the actors faces/​expressions it was a spectacular and very enjoyable even though Dirty Dancing could be classed as a ‘girly’ film. The only thing we missed was the actual band at the top of the stage. The most impressive scene was the log dance and the water jump where the effects were realistic.

It’s a lovely old theatre. We went to see Dirty Dancing, and would go again tomorrow. We had a box on the side at the right of the stage, they did say we might have restricted views, but it was fine, we had great views and great seats. We found all the staff really helpful and friendly. Even the ice cream at half time was only £2.10, it’s more than that in most theatres. It was a really enjoyable experience, and I hope to do it again soon. I would reccomend it to anyone.

The seats we had weren’t the best we couldn’t see the side of the stage, the Aldwych is a smaller theatre, but high up be careful buying seats cos you could end up in the rafters!
Dirty Dancing was the first play I saw coming to London, and it sticks exactly to the movie. The same songs, the same storyline, the same magical summer romance. And the play was even more spectacular with the scenes moving continuously. The dancers were brilliant as were the singers.

We went here last week (02.11.2007) to see Dirty Dancing and it was amazing although we were in seat that were one row from last and right at the top the view was perfect. The staff were friendly and the whole place really got into the spirit of the show. I would recomend watching anything here as there isn’t a bad seat, the leg room was great and the bar was really reasonable which was a great suprise in a London Theatre.

Fame !
Comme tous les théatres de Londres, l’Aldwych possède un décor féerique ! Il est situé idéalement car dans le quartier très animé de Covent Garden. Le «musical» que j’étais allé voir ce soir là c’était «Fame» et ça mérite le détour. Rien à voir avec les comédies musicales made in France. A faire impérativement lorsqu’on est de passage dans la capitale britannique !